Jennifer Lawrence is hard not to like. She’s beautiful,
funny and demands your attention in whatever film she appears. Her professional
relationship with David O. Russell reaped a best actress Oscar a few years ago
in Silver Linings Playbook and another nomination for American Hustle, so why
not get the team back together?

Lawrence plays Joy Mangano, a single divorced mother living
on Long Island with her mother (Virginia Madsen), grandmother (Diane Ladd), two
kids and her ex-husband Tony (Edgar Ramirez), who stays her the basement while
pursuing a lounge-singing career. Things get messy when Joy’s dad Rudy (Robert
De Niro) starts dating a wealthy widow named Trudy (Isabella Rossellini) moves
into the basement with Tony (they don’t get along). Frustrated by being the
primary breadwinner for this group of misfits, Joy gets an idea for an
invention she knows could change her fortunes: a new kind of mop. Joy convinces
Trudy to invest in developing the “Miracle Mop,” as Rudy, her cynical sister
Peggy and helpful best friend Jackie (Dascha Polanco) help out. Tony arranges a
meeting with Neil Walker (Bradley Cooper), a Home Shopping Network executive
who gives her a change to sell the mop on television. After a rough start, Joy
is allowed to demonstrate and sell the mop herself over the air, and sales take
off. Her success is threatened when a dubious businessman tries to steal her
patent away, but Joy’s spirit is not broken, and she goes to extreme measures
to regain control of her invention.

Joy is a very good movie, albeit about a strong woman who
invented a mop and took over her own destiny through the Home Shopping Network.
Lawrence’s performance is on par with her other award-worthy appearances, as
she continues to dominate the screen with her beauty and spirit. The David O.
Russell formula and usual suspects (including Cooper and De Niro) are starting
to blend together, making all of them seem less important. Maybe it’s time to
branch out a little and try a new combination.

Russell’s story also contains a plot twist at the end of the
movie as Joy suddenly acquires legal acumen beyond her simple education and
circumstances. It’s a moment of triumph that conveniently wraps up all
conflicts like the ending of a Scooby-Doo episode, and appears to be contrived.